Tesla Model Y of Eden Prairie City, MN Police Dept. Photo: Dan Burkland/Twitter
The Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office in Washington State has gone electric with the purchase of a Tesla Model Y. The electric car will be an experiment to determine the real costs of its upkeep and how much it will withstand the daily patrol work.
In early 2021, the Snohomish County Sheriff's Office began searching for one electric vehicle to purchase as a pilot project. The car will have to serve as a fully functioning police patrol vehicle with the ability to respond to emergency calls, carry equipment, transport arrestees, make traffic stops, and perform daily police work.
In the selection process, the Sheriff's Office screened all-electric vehicles from Ford, Nissan, Hyundai, Kia, Chevrolet, Tesla, Audi, Volkswagen, and Volvo. After months of extensive research, the sheriff's office opted for an all-electric Tesla Model 3, as the vehicle was most suitable for patrolling needs and was more affordable than other all-electric vehicles. However, recently it became known that the sheriff's office has chosen another Tesla model—Model Y.
The pilot project will track and evaluate average fuel consumption, repair and maintenance costs, vehicle performance, and capabilities. Tesla Model Y is expected to patrol in Snohomish County by the end of 2021.
The purchase of the Tesla Model Y, including the corresponding conversion, cost over $51,000. The sheriff's office doesn't expect the vehicle to pay for itself. Nonetheless, they expect that using an electric vehicle will result in significant gas savings, fewer repairs, less brake maintenance, and more durable tires, sheriff's office spokesperson Courtney O'Keefe noted in an email to HeraldNet.
Councilman Sam Low believes that introducing an electric vehicle into the police force will yield a very rewarding experience and a great benefit. He stressed that the sheriff's office alone used more than 340,000 gallons of fuel in 2019. Over the course of a decade, that adds up to 3.4 million gallons of fossil fuel. “I'm concerned, and I'd like to see us go in a different direction,” Low said at the time. As a condition of the 2021 budget, the County Council ordered that the county department come up with a Green Fleet Implementation Plan, creating the blueprints for the eventual transition away from fossil fuels.
Tesla vehicles, which are already in the fleet in several US police stations, have proven themselves to be the best. They do an excellent job with all daily duties, thanks to their fast acceleration; they are able to quickly catch up to a suspect if necessary, demonstrate colossal economy, and are also ecologically friendly.
© 2021, Eva Fox. All rights reserved.
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Article edited by @SmokeyShorts, you can follow him on Twitter